Prince Harry’s meeting with King Charles “lasted 12 minutes”, according to royal commentator Lady Colin Campbell.
The Duke of Sussex cleared his schedule for an abrupt trip across the pond after learning of his father’s cancer diagnosis.
His visit prompted hopes of a reconciliation after the pair’s relations became strained with Harry’s decision to depart from royal duties and launch a series of scathing remarks about the Firm in his memoir, Spare, as well as a series of interviews and documentaries.
But Harry’s trip was a brief one, heading back home shortly after the meeting with his father.
Lady C says Harry's meeting with Charles was a brief one
GETTY / GB NEWS
Lady C told GB News that Harry’s meeting with the King may have been more brief than originally understood, lasting just 12 minutes.
“My understanding is actually the meeting lasted exactly 12 minutes”, she said.
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“Not 30 minutes or 45 minutes and Harry took it upon himself, without an invitation, to get on a plane, fly over and inform the King’s office that he was arriving.
“One could actually wonder who was the visit for? Was it for Harry? Was it the King? Or was it for Netflix or was it a combination of all three?”
Despite Lady C’s assertions, Palace sources told the Express that Harry’s reunion with Charles was a “cause for optimism”.
Harry’s brief trip to the UK did not include a reunion with his brother, Prince William.
Lady C joined Patrick Christys and Phil Dampier on GB News
GB NEWS
King Charles was diagnosed with cancer GETTYEarlier, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said that by not meeting Harry, William has shown that he has disowned his brother.
She added: “Harry could bunk down in Clarence House, where he used to live, to have the house to himself or he would follow perhaps by car, if he wasn't going to go in the helicopter with his father and his stepmother.
“But neither of those things happened. Instead, he went off to a hotel and goodness knows what he did with himself.”
The obstacles to surmount remain significant for father and son – in his 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry said Charles stopped taking his calls when he was trying to discuss stepping down as a working royal in 2019.
In a series of interviews to promote his book, Harry attacked the reputation of Charles’ wife Queen Camilla, saying her willingness to forge relationships with the British press made her “dangerous” and criticised her attempts to rehabilitate her “image” at his cost.
Just weeks after Spare was released, Harry and Meghan were asked to “vacate” their UK home, Frogmore cottage close to Windsor Castle, with reports claiming the move was sanctioned by the King.
But later that year Harry reportedly phoned his father on his 75th birthday last November to wish him well.
The warring royal brothers may yet take to heart the words of Charles who, according to Harry’s memoir Spare, told them after their grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral “Please, boys – don’t make my final years a misery”.
